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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25886704">Threads</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetAshori/pseuds/SweetAshori'>SweetAshori</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SenHaku Week 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Red String of Fate, SenHaku Week, Senhaku, Soulmates, Supernatural Elements</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:34:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,284</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25886704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetAshori/pseuds/SweetAshori</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The red thread of fate. A mythical, symbolic tale stretched over generations. The idea of it is that, from the day we are born, one of our fingers – the thumb of a male, the pinky of a female – are tied with a red thread, the string connecting to the one you are fated to be with. Your one and only, your true love, your soulmate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ishigami Senkuu &amp; Kohaku, Ishigami Senkuu/Kohaku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SenHaku Week 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Threads</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. STONE. Obviously. I just own a lot of headcanons.</p><p>Authoress' Note: So I found out just a bit ago about SenHaku Week via Tumblr, and I definitely wanted to try and participate! I'm not sure how many of the prompts I'll be able to write for yet, but I definitely wanted to write something. I hope you all enjoy!</p><p>Prompt 1: Soulmate AU</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The red thread of fate. A mythical, symbolic tale stretched over generations. The idea of it is that, from the day we are born, one of our fingers – the thumb of a male, the pinky of a female – are tied with a red thread, the string connecting to the one you are fated to be with. Your one and only, your true love, your soulmate. This string is invisible, unable to determine where it goes, stretches, and tangles, but the rumor is that, when you become close to the one you're fated to be with, you would feel a brief but unprovoked tug, not made under your own accord but of the thread being pulled towards the fated partner.</p><p>Kohaku Weinberg, however, was blessed with a mysterious power: she could see the red threads.</p><p>She first noticed this ability at the age of six, when she watched her older sister Ruri standing outside of their family home, chatting with one of Kohaku's classmates and their shared childhood friend, Chrome. As they were chatting, Kohaku could see something between them that wasn't there before: a red thread tied around his thumb and her pinky. At first, she thought it was a trick, caused by the fever she had stayed home from school for, but as she grew up, she began to see that and the threads of others, seeing as they weaved and stretched across the landscape. She even began to see her own thread, but unlike others, hers remained almost entirely invisible saved for the wrap around her pinky and a small trail that faded into nothing.</p><p>It was an odd ability, one she attempted to share with her family out of a childlike curiosity if they also shared the same sight, but no one seemed to believe her. And so, she kept word of it to herself, not wanting to risk being bullied or deemed crazy for saying she could see a mass of red threads all across the world. Still, she wondered why she could see the strings of others but not her own. Perhaps her fated person was so far away from her that there would be no plausible way – even with her sight – that she could see them. Or perhaps she is not meant to see her own thread beyond the hint that it was there, as seeing it would lead her to force the pursuit of her destiny, which the strings did not allow. After all, they were meant to go unseen, to be a mysterious drive of fate to bring one to their soulmate, and so to see her own would be wrong.</p><p>She could feel the little tug occasionally, however. Or at least, she would think she would, but would never seek it out completely. It wasn't as though she wasn't curious about her fated lover – as she was now sixteen and the ideas of love and romance that commonly developed with those her age also came to her mind – but she figured that it would happen eventually. It was fate, after all. Still, when she felt that tug, she would wonder about it. It wasn't often, usually the briefest of twitches, not enough to make her think it was something more than an involuntary motion of her nerves, but there was a couple of times that the tug was stronger and she knew it was from the thread.</p><p>The first time she felt it was during her first year of high school, as she was riding on the subway with her sister, talking about all of the neat things awaiting Ruri's third year. It was a very full ride, and the two had to stand up, holding onto the handles coming from the ceiling with one hand while they held their briefcases in the other. There was a bit of a harsh jolt as they were approaching a stop, the force of it causing her to fall back just slightly, the handle keeping her upright, but still not enough to prevent her from accidentally hitting the shoulder of another person. It wasn't a hard bump by any means, but she still apologized for it, only seeing the person she bumped into – a young man, likely her own age, wearing a white coat over some sort of school uniform, but she couldn't tell which one – for the briefest of moments before turning back around to her sister. He gruffly accepted the apology, but there was no need for anything more than that. It was when she exited the subway with Ruri that she felt the tug on her pinky. For a second, she looked back, but in the crowd of people and threads, there was no way for her to tell who, among all of the people surrounding her, was her fated one, so she gave it no more thought from there.</p><p>The second time she felt it was during kendo practice after school. Since she was eight, Kohaku heavily participated in the sport, actively joining the kendo team in her first high school year. There was a small crowd of students in the gym where the team practiced, all curious and excited over the activity. The crowd never bothered her, nor did the noise they emitted – other than when someone would refer to her as a gorilla, in which she'd often yell at them for daring to call her such a term – but it was a bit nice to see others interested in the sport, even if they didn't participate in it. It was during one practice that she felt it, that tug. Right as she was finishing a match against her opponent – soundly defeating them, she must add with pride – she felt the tug. Once again, she would glance towards those around here. While they were only a dozen or so watching, followed by all of those on the team, she still couldn't see any further with her thread beyond what she could always see. The stronger tugs never lasted long, no more than a second or two, so as with the first, she shrugged it off. At least she knew her soulmate was somewhere in Japan, not out in a foreign country or something where it may have been impossible to find them. That was enough for her, for now.</p><p>She didn't need to have some sort of thrilling high school romance, like that of shoujo manga or what she'd hear some of her fellow classmates chatter about. She knew that, because of this ability, that one day she'd find her partner. She knew it was fate, and while she disliked the idea of have her life set out for her, she also knew that, just because she knew that her soulmate was out there, it didn't mean that her life was entirely set in stone. There was many different types of relationships out there; just because she knew that eventually she would meet her “The One”, it didn't mean that it would hold her back, nor would she hold them back either if they had ambitions to follow as well. They were meant to be together, to take a journey of life together until death, and they would be one another's anchor when they needed it, not their chains.</p><p>That was enough.</p><p>For Senku Ishigami, however, he did not share much of this same sentiment. Like Kohaku, he also began to see the red threads as a child, first noticing the string that connected between his two closest friends, Taiju and Yuzuriha. However, he had no interest in ever finding the end of his invisible thread. That lack of interest grew as he got older, preferring to focus most exclusively on the true love and passion of his life: science. It wasn't as though he was incapable of feeling love. He held such feelings for his stepfather, Byakuya, and of course he cared deeply for Taiju and Yuzuriha, but those forms of love were entirely different than the love the thread meant. A deep, romantic love with a supposed soulmate... he scoffed that the idea. Such a thing was detrimental to his pursuits in science. He didn't need to have a brain full of illogical feelings clogging up his time when he was doing advanced calculations and experiments. Fated or not, he just didn't care enough to put any sort of effort towards finding the answer. In the end, what mattered most to him was his ultimate goals.</p><p>Still... he did admit to feeling that slight twinge of curiosity when he felt the tug on his thumb that wasn't of his own doing. Most often, they were the lightest of tugs, something he could ride off as nerves reacting, but there was a couple of times where it was stronger, a sign that his soulmate was somewhere close.</p><p>The first was shortly before the end of his last year of middle school. He was on his way back home from school, finishing up one last project of his in the science lab, one hand holding his briefcase and a bag of snacks he wanted from a convenience store, the other holding open a notebook of his, going over the notes of his work carefully, double checking for any errors, a pencil tucked behind his ear and embedding itself a bit into his green-ombred hair. It was something he's done dozens of times before, avoiding any and all obstacles – and dirty looks – he'd get along the way. However, as he was going over his notes, he felt the force of someone being pushed into his body, knocking into him enough to make him drop his notebook and break him from his reverie. “Ah, I'm so sorry! Ugh, seriously, Amaryllis, why did you do that!?” came the apology from a young lady, bowing in solidarity after she yelled at her friend.</p><p>Senku didn't pay it much mind; he was mildly annoyed with the incident, but it wasn't worth getting worked up over. The notebook had fallen, but it went closed, not damaging the papers inside, and that was all that mattered. “It's okay. You alright?” he forgave the girl – a blonde, with hair tied back with a white bow in a shape almost like a flower was all he actually remembered – and she nodded before apologizing again, picking up the notebook and handing it back to him without so much as a comment on its contents, before continuing on past with her friend.</p><p>It was around that point he felt that harsh tug, but by the time he really had a chance to glance around him, there was a growing crowd around him. No way to determine exactly who, among all the people, was the one he was connected with, nor did he want to explore it. It was just a curious feeling, that was all.</p><p>The second time was sometime during his first year of high school. He was participating in a science fair – a mundane idea, in his opinion, but he did enjoy the idea of showing off his natural talents – and was explaining his work when he felt the tug again. Of course, Senku knew better than to stop his explanation, not when there was a crowd of interested and delighted students and parents around him, but that didn't stop him from glancing a bit, seeing if he could make out who the mystery soulmate could be, but as before, he was unable to discern the one from the many, nor did he actually care to.</p><p>He, to be frank, hated the whole idea of a destined partner out there, connected to him by the red thread. He didn't want to be fated and tied to someone that would hinder him. But, he also had to be honest, that perhaps his soulmate was someone similar to him: a person that also didn't desire to be tied down by the thread, wanting to live out their dreams and goals, but is content enough to know that there was someone out there that kept them grounded when it was needed to. If that was his soulmate's ideals, then maybe – just maybe – the idea of being connected to that person wasn't so bad. But he wasn't going to seek it out. When it happened, it happened, he guessed.</p><p>And so, the two just went through their lives as they've always done. The thread was there, and they would occasionally feel the tug on their fingers, and for the moment they would wonder, but then would go back to normal. Their paths were crossing, but never meeting, and that was okay. That was enough.</p><p>Kohaku was walking home from the store, gathering some meats and veggies to make a delicious hot pot with Ruri and their father, wearing a set of pink earbuds with a watermelon charm on the bud, the cord connecting to her little MP3 player, playing a random assortment of songs. She was definitely looking forward to it, feeling rather famished from extra kendo practice earlier, although she knew she'd sneak in a small snack to tie her over before then. She felt a bit light on her feet today, despite her small bout of exhaustion, a smile crept over her lips as she bobbed her head gently to the music, enjoying the soft breeze of the day as it brushed past her face and through her flowery-locks.</p><p>Senku was thinking somewhat of the same thing, stopping in at a favorite eatery of his, ordering a yummy bowl of tonkotsu ramen, wanting it to settle his growling stomach after spending much of his day going over chemicals and equations in his personal lab, as well as desiring a well-deserved break after working most of the day. He received a call from Taiju, asking the scientist if he wanted to go to a movie with him and Yuzuriha a bit later that night, an offer he initially declined, but eventually was persuaded to join, figuring it wouldn't be bad to end a long week of school and science with a little bit of fun.</p><p>They were focused on their own thoughts, their own plans, when they felt that tug. It was strong, stronger than either could remember from before. Kohaku stopped in her tracks for a moment, looking down at her pinky with a furrowed brow. Senku looked at his thumb, stopping the scrolling he was doing on his phone. Eyes glances subtly around them, curiosity once again overwhelming them for a few seconds, wondering if they are able to see someone else with a string similar to their own, going to one side of their frames to the other.</p><p>Crimson met ocean, separated by glass, and then came a small feeling of surprise. It was strange; something seemed familiar about one another, and how they both were still in this moment, glancing at one another... could it be that they were meant to do this? Was she his soulmate? Was he her fate? They could see the threads, but not if they were connected. Not in the tangle of other threads from those that were walking and talking and sitting all around them. How strange, how odd indeed, that this could be a coincidence that they, in the moment they felt that weird pull upon their tied fingers, would meet like this, gaze meeting gaze.</p><p>But the surprise of the moment quickly faded, leaving just a dash of wonder for them to splash in. Kohaku smiled, raising her free hand to wave at Senku softly, her pinky raised only a centimeter or two higher than her other fingers, the thread following and moving with her, as they curled back after the motion. Senku scoffed, smirking back at her, waving back, his hand more stiff, but she could still see the thread move as he waved. With that one move, they went back to their own worlds: Kohaku back to her musical heaven, Senku to his ramen and science message boards.</p><p>They didn't know if the other were the one they were connected to, but it wasn't worth the effort to explore it. This brief meeting was enough. After all, there was no guarantee that they were meant to be, if their strings connected, not in the tangle they could see. It was what it was, a coincidence in a sea of knitted threads. If it was meant to be, then surely, someday it would happen, but for now, this was fine. This was okay.</p><p>Their second year of high school began, and their lives went on. There were studies, hanging out with their friends, focusing on their hobbies, figuring out what they wanted to do after high school was done... they lived the typical life of a teenager. Of course, when the idea of relationships came up, they would blow off the idea – one downright despising the conversation, while the other politely refusing to participate further than a few comments – knowing exactly what they knew and what others did not. There were tugs and pulls at times upon their tied fingers, but as they always did, there were gazes around them but nothing further. It was almost a bit of comfort, they privately admitted, when they felt those tugs. Why such a thing actually comforted them, why it gave them that faint twinge of relief, was beyond their comprehension, but it did, and that was enough.</p><p>One day... one day their worlds will collide, and they will meet, and they will come to know one another, and they will talk. Until then, they were satisfied with just the simple knowledge.</p><p>It was another weekend, and once again Kohaku was out for a walk, listening to music from her player through cat-ear headphones with one cuff slightly off from her left ear, scrolling through her phone as she received a few pictures of her sister Ruri, sent from a restaurant near her university. She smiled at the photos, that wispy feeling of happiness and sadness over seeing and missing her sister settling in her chest, and she became a bit lost in thoughts... perhaps over the next break from school, she can make the trip out there to Ruri's school, spend some time with her and explore a different part of Japan. Certainly their father wouldn't mind the idea...</p><p>Senku was also out for a walk, and like her, was also distracted by things on his phone. There was a livestream from the USA, an interview with a NASA scientist named Dr. Xeno, whom Senku highly admired for his work with rocketry. He needed to get out of his lab for a bit, wanting to grab something good to eat, but also didn't want to miss out on the livestream, and so he went out with earbuds plugged in.</p><p>They were distracted by their own worlds, mostly keeping to paths with less people, but they didn't realize how close they were getting to one another, their feet taking them down the concrete, their eyes focusing most on their phones with occasional glances upwards to eye their surroundings, until the laws of force brought them together, bodies colliding harshly, their phones dropping to the ground with loud crashes – thank goodness for cases, however, as they managed to survive without cracks – with earbuds falling out of ears and headphones shifting to the back of the head, getting caught in hair. There was a bit of a yelp from both of them from the momentary pain of their collision, their eyes shut upon the impact, then opening quickly after they stopped themselves from falling entirely to the ground.</p><p>“I'm sorry!” they yelled in unison, wanting to apologize for their transgressions, a gasp emitting from their throats as their eyes met.</p><p>Once again, ocean met crimson. Their lips were a fraction agape. Kohaku's hands were on the cuffs of her headphones, slowly bringing them down to around her neck, her fingers lingering over them. Senku had one hand wrapped around the cord of his earbuds, having caught them as they fell from their place. There was a lingering sense of quiet, the livestream stopped and the music just barely making noise from the headphones, with a short breeze brushing past them with a few people around but not paying attention to the frozen teens.</p><p>It was Kohaku that broke the ice first, smiling with a small tinge of pink over her cheeks, “Hello again.”</p><p>He scoffed, smirking, ignoring the same sort of warmth on his face, “Hey.”</p><p>Another second of quiet turned to two and three, before they knelt down to pick up their phones, grabbing one another's because they crossed and landed by their feet, handing them back to one another, both relieved they were no worse for wear from the crash. Kohaku turned off her player for the moment, while Senku was slightly irritated that he had missed parts of the livestream but didn't let it get to him too harshly, knowing that it would be posted in its entirety once it was done and he could catch up from there.</p><p>Phones in hands, they stood straight again, gazes meeting again. Normally, this would be enough: one more apology, then they'd be on their ways. But this time was different; although they should move, they didn't. Obviously, there was something more at play here, given how they had done this once before. This odd, coincidental feeling.</p><p>“I'm Kohaku, by the way.”</p><p>“Senku.”</p><p>“It's nice to meet you.”</p><p>“Same.”</p><p>The blonde let out a small laugh, a short tilt of her head to her right, “You're not much of a talker when you're not dealing with science stuff, huh?”</p><p>A brow quirked, lips curled into another smirk, “I suppose you've heard of one of my lectures.”</p><p>She nodded, “Yeah. Last year, at the science fair. I was pretty impressed with your discussion on the future of robotics and space exploration. I didn't fully understand it all, but it was pretty impressive.”</p><p>“Thank you. I suppose you didn't have kendo practice today?”</p><p>“Nope. I have it tomorrow, though, after school. I guess you've seen some of it?”</p><p>He nodded this time, “I looked in a couple of times on my way to the science labs. Heard a couple of the boys call you a gorilla, although if you ask me, based on the way you roared and attacked, I'd say you're closer to a lioness.”</p><p>She pouted, hating the hell out of those names, and Senku noticed the puff in her cheeks, chuckling at the sight of it. “Ugh... what's with people giving me these beastly names?” she mumbled, brushing back her bangs for a moment before crossing her arms, “I'm not a gorilla or a lioness.”</p><p>“I don't mean to insult you. In fact, I think the way you fight is impressive in its own right. A lioness is prideful and strong, not one to bow entirely to a king or any other stronger opponent. I find your abilities to be rather thrilling to watch.”</p><p>This time she blushed, now feeling a bit sheepish at the comments, “Th-thank you... but I still don't think I like being called such a name.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” he remarked, still wanting to call her a lioness to tease her – why he wanted to tease her, he didn't quite understand why, given that they were entirely strangers still – but allowed the term to remain just on the tip of his tongue.</p><p>Silence again. One second... two... five... seven... finally, Kohaku spoke again, “Say, um... would you like to get something to eat and chat for awhile longer? It'd be my treat!”</p><p>He debated about the offer for a moment, a small hum in his throat and a finger rolling around in his ear as he thought about it, before accepting it. Kohaku released a breath she didn't know she held; why was she so nervous about him rejecting her? It's just talking, just a snack; it's not like it was a date or anything. He was a stranger to her, connected flimsily by sharing the same school and a couple of chance meetings, so if he rejected the offer, it wouldn't have been a big deal, right? Yet the idea of rejection made her feel uncomfortable, the relief taking over once he said yes... how weird.</p><p>“How do you feel about ramen? I know of a pretty good place.”</p><p>“Mmm, that sounds good! Actually, I was just looking at a picture of my sister eating a delicious bowl of tonkotsu ramen, so now I'm kinda craving it.”</p><p>They laughed at the odds of that happening before they continued their walk, this time side by side. They chatted about little things – about school, about the music Kohaku was listening to, about the livestream Senku was watching – occasionally smiling and commenting towards one another's points, the pain from their collision all but a memory and the awkwardness of that weird feeling from before fading away the more and more they talked.</p><p>Her pinky twitched, his thumb jerked, but they didn't bother looking around to see what the reason was, nor did they look down at their appendages to see where the invisible tip of their threads were going, so engrossed in the conversation they were having. And so they didn't see that their threads were entirely visible, connected to one another, the valley it created waving in the air as they walked. They didn't think about how the other could've been the one they were seeking out all along, but at the moment, they didn't care.</p><p>Fate and soulmates and anchors can all wait. What mattered in this moment was that they were having fun, and like usual, that was enough. For now.</p><p>
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